Irish divers Clare Cryan and Jake Passmore made their 2023 World Aquatics Championships debuts today in the preliminaries of the 1M Springboard at the Fukuoka Prefectural Pool in Fukuoka, Japan.
Cryan was first up in a field of forty-four competitors and finished an impressive 17th overall on 229.50 points. There is no semi-final in the 1M (non-Olympic) event with the top twelve only progressing to the Final.
Speaking afterwards Cryan said ‘It was a steady start to my worlds campaign. It’s a busy competition, so limited training before events, but I felt prepared and delivered some good diving. I now have a week before 3m, there’s lots to take forwards to build on my performance.’
Jake Passmore was making his World Championship debut, having made his senior international debut at the European Games just last month; the 18-year-old was one of the youngest competitors in the sixty-three strong field which included European and World medallists.
Passmore scored 344.60 for seventeenth place overall, just ten points off his best score to date. Speaking after he commented ‘I’m feeling great after today’s competition, I put a steady list of dives together and proved that I should be at this competition. I’m excited for 3m and this was definitely a confidence boost and hopefully I can replicate todays performance on 3m.’
Passmore will be back in action on Wednesday 18th and Cryan on Thursday 19th July, both on the 3M Springboard. The 3M Springboard is an Olympic event, with twelve places on offer for Paris 2024. Passmore and Cryan will need to make it from preliminaries to the semi-final (top 18) and into the final (top 12) to secure a place.
Ciara McGing will be the next Irish athlete in action at the World Championships when she takes to the 10M Platform on Tuesday 17th July. The Platform is an Olympic event with twelve places available for Paris 2024.
The World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka is the first of two opportunities for Irish divers to secure Olympic places, the second will be the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar in February 2024.
Friday 14th July Results
Women 1M Springboard Clare Cryan 229.50 (17th)
Men 1M Springboard Jake Passmore 344.60 (17th)
Schedule
Tuesday 17th July Platform Preliminaries Ciara McGing
Wednesday 18th July 3M Springboard Preliminaries Jake Passmore
Thursday 19th July 3M Springboard Preliminaries Clare Cryan
Saturday 22nd July Mixed 3M Synchro Final Clare Cryan & Jake Passmore
Swimming at the World Aquatics Championships will take place from Sunday 23rd to Sunday 30th July.
